Self Directed Support Guide

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This guide has been produced in conjunction with Lincolnshire Independent Living. It is a guide for reference only. If you need more detailed advice please feel free to give us a call and we will help you as best we can.

Organising Support
Having the money in your account is only the first step in personalised support. Now you need to think about spending that money wisely. 
The first step may be to go online (if you have the facility, or go to your local library and use their free computers) to see what services are available. Do a ‘search’ for carers, cleaners, gardeners or other services that you may wish to purchase. Alternatively, go through a local editorial or magazine looking for services, or ask around. Make sure you check prices to ensure you are getting the best deal. ‘Phone around to find out what is available. 
Lincolnshire county council have a web site which may help you find such services, follow this link and see what they have to offer.
http://mychoicemycare.org.uk/

Agency or Self Support
Along the way you may decide to go through an agency to buy in your support, or alternatively, you may decide to employ someone yourself. There are pros and cons with both alternatives. Ultimately, you or the client will have to decide what is best for you or them.
Here are some things to think about.
Agency: 
Good – less stress, all the work is done for you.
Bad – some of the money you have will be taken by the agency in costs and therefore you may have less money to go around.
Self support:
Good – all the money can be spent on your needs and not used up in admin costs.
Bad - employing people can seem daunting, and can take up time.

Employing People
If you decide to go down the route of employing people, here are some of the things to consider and some useful pointers which might make things easier.

Finding the Right Person
The first step is ask around. Your neighbours and friends can all be employed to do bits and pieces for you, within reason and without too much hassle. You may be able to pay them for this. Ask them to spread the word. The only restriction is on employing family members or partners. However, under certain circumstances, this too can be allowed. Check with your social worker.
Once you have asked your family and friends, think about advertising to find people outside your normal circles. Adverts can be placed relatively cheaply in local shops, supermarkets, job centres, or you could even try Facebook or Twitter to get an even wider audience. 
Before you advertise for a carer, cleaner, gardener or other service, you need to be sure of what you need them to do. How much you will pay them? When and how often do they need to come? It is good to draft an advert which you can use to advertise for the services you require.
TIP: Go back to Socratic Method to make sure you have asked yourself all the right questions!!
Example Advert:
WANTED
Carer/Home Help

20 hours a week.
For local assistance with dressing, toileting, bathing, house cleaning and some light gardening etc.
Must be flexible and able to drive.
Good rate of pay.
For more details please call Mr XXXXXXXX on : XXXX XXXX
References and CRB check will be required. 	

Interviewing people
Hopefully, you will receive some responses to your advert or request for carers through friends. Before you invite people around, speak to them on the ‘phone. Ensure you’ve got a few questions that you have prepared beforehand. This isn’t a full interview, this is just to ensure that you weed out unlikely candidates. See if there are similar interests, or if you like what they are saying. Do they seem friendly?
Things to ask
Tell me a little about yourself.
Have you done this type of work before?
Where? When?

Once you have a list of people (or perhaps it is someone you know) it is important to have time to sit down and interview them. This can be as casual or as formal as you like. Telephone beforehand, give them a time and date and ask them to bring any documentation or references for you to see. 
Ensure someone is there with you or the client for safety. It also helps to get another person’s point of view. 

Interview questions
It is good to have a list of interview questions ready before the interview. Here is a draft list of questions which you may use:
•	What kind of job are you looking for and why?
•	Do you have a clean driving licence?
•	What is your availability/notice period?
•	What skills would you bring to this carer role?
•	What experience have you had caring for an elderly/disabled/wheelchair-bound person?
•	Why did you apply for this role?
•	Are you able to do heavy lifting?
•	Are you comfortable with animals/pets? (if their role will involve pet contact)
•	What kind of cooking can you do? (if this will be part of the role)
•	Are you flexible about hours?
•	Do you have references?
•	Have you had a CRB check?

Remember there are some questions relating to the following subjects which you shouldn’t ask:
•	Marital status
•	Childcare arrangements
•	Sexual orientation
•	Plans about starting a family
•	Trade union membership
•	Political affiliations
•	Religion

Exercise 9
Why not practise to feel more comfortable about asking questions? You could practise with the supporter, client or a friend using the questions above. Is there anything else you would like to add to the questions? Why not jot them down. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Even if you really like a particular person, make sure you interview everyone in the same way. Before offering anyone a job, make sure you have checked their references and that they are CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checked. This may help to ensure that they are trustworthy, as it is a check of whether the person has previously been convicted of an offence.
If they have not been CRB checked, you can have this done for a small cost:
https://www.gov.uk/crb-criminal-records-bureau-check
In some cases your local authority may help you with this.

Offering the Job
Once you are happy, it may be wise to offer the person the job in writing. Include the terms and conditions of the employment in the letter or alternatively attach a written contract to the letter. Remember an employee is entitled to a written statement of your main employment terms within two months of starting work.
Write your own letter or job offer or contract. Remember you need to add or include the following at the least.
Hours to be worked, what they are required to do, start time, end time (or flexible), rate of pay, holidays, sickness etc. TIP: Keep a copy on file. In fact, it is useful to start a folder, so that you can keep all employment documents together.
Draft Contract of Employment
This contract is governed by the laws of England

This contract is between

YOUR NAME

YOUR ADDRESS

AND
EMPLOYEE’S NAME

ADDRESS

JOB TITLE - i.e. carer/personal assistant. It could also say permanent/part time after probation period (usually 3 months).

JOB DESCRIPTION – this job will involve supporting……………..with their day to day activities. This could involve some personal care, preparing meals, helping ……..access activities and appointments. This is not an exhaustive list and may vary from time to time.

HOURS OF WORK - work will normally be between …….. and …….. Monday – Friday. There may occasionally be a request to work outside these times. Supervision will also be paid for (for example 1 hr month). The average hours per week worked will be........(This is useful for part time hours and for working out holiday requirement).
Pay will be …….. per hour, paid on the last Friday of the month. After a year’s employment, pay will be evaluated and rises may occur, dependant on the personal budget received. (You may wish to have a different wage for the probation period and this will have to be spelled out here…..for example, £8 per hour until the 3 month probation period is up, then £8.50 per hour).
If you are to work a bank holiday this will be paid at time and a quarter.
Mileage will be paid separately to wages, as will expenses. Mileage forms will need to be filled in and receipts kept for expenses.

HOLIDAYS - your holiday year will start from the day you are employed. No holiday pay will be paid for the first ……months (can be no longer than 3). After that, you will be entitled to 5.6 weeks per year including bank holidays. This equates to …. hours. 
You may be asked to take some set holidays and this will include the week between Christmas and New Year. (Usually no more than 2 set weeks).
Notice for holiday leave will be 4 weeks for both parties, except in exceptional circumstances.	

SICKNESS - In event of illness and being unable to turn up for work, you must contact ………before 9am, or at least 1 hr earlier than your shift start, if you are due to start work before this time. Sick pay will be paid with accordance to government regulations.

NOTICE OF TERMINATION - During the probation period both parties will be expected to give 2 weeks notice. This increases to 4 weeks after this time. 
However, if the employee behaves in an inappropriate way or there is gross negligence, termination can be instant, with one week’s pay.

CONFIDENTIALITY - It will be expected that, during and after this employment, you will not disclose any confidential information about the client or the employer.

Other Terms you may want to add:

Signed    Employer                                                Date

Signed    Employee                                               Date

	

Training
You might want to consider training your staff on some basic matters, such as First Aid, Health and Safety and Manual Handling. Job Centre Plus and other voluntary organisations do many courses for people looking for employment, covering payment for these if they are unemployed, or for a very small cost. These courses are run at the Abbey Access Centre in Lincoln.
http://abbeyaccesslincoln.co.uk/training/courses/
Insurance
Your budget should include the provision of taking employer’s liability insurance. This covers your employees for accidents or injury while they are working for you. There are a number of specialist carer companies, which offer cover for well below £100.

PAY/Tax - Things you need to know
P45/P46
Your employee, when he starts with you, should give you a P45. If not, you should get him to fill in a P46 form, available from here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/p46.pdf
Ensure you keep a copy, as this has vital information you will need.
The current minimum wage you have to pay is:
•	for workers aged 21 years or more: £6.19 per hour
•	for workers aged 18 to 20 inclusive: £4.98 per hour
•	for workers aged under 18 (but above compulsory school age): £3.68 per hour

TIP: Remember these amounts change in October every year, so put a date in your diary to check: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates

Tax

Generally, a person can earn up to their personal allowance before you have to worry about their tax payments (see chart below). However, bear in mind that this is the total amount they should earn for the year. If they have other jobs, this may take them above the thresholds, if all are added together, so make sure you check.

Personal allowance		2013-14	
Under 65		£9,205	
Age 65 - 74		£10,500	

National Insurance

The National Insurance payment is also based on bandings. As long as the person who works for you earns (currently April 2012) a weekly amount of no more than £107, or a monthly amount of £464, (annual amount £5564), then you will have no contributions to pay. The contributions start if they earn more than £144 weekly, £624 monthly or £7488 yearly.

Holidays

This online link from Business Link will help you work out your employee’s holiday entitlements: https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights

Sick Pay

Calculations are available here:
https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay-ssp

Becoming an Employer

If you employ someone, it may be best (and necessary) to register with HMRC as you will get guidance and information to keep you up to date. Whether you are an employer depends on whether the employee is considered to be actually working for you.

Check with HMRC (see link for PAYE online below) or Business Link first to see whether you need to register as an employer.
https://www.gov.uk/employing-staff

PAYE online

You may wish to give a paper copy of a payslip. However, if it looks like your employees may be getting paid above the minimum tax or NI thresholds, it may be beneficial to register with HMRC and download the following programme to help you keep records. 
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/paye/tools/basic-paye-tools.htm

It is quite straightforward and user friendly. The programme will give you the information about the amount of tax to be paid, as well as any National Insurance you may have to pay. It will also supply you with a pay slip that you can give to your employees. 

Paying HMRC

They will send you books which you can use to pay at the Post Office or bank. Alternatively, you can do it online here;
https://www.santanderbillpayment.co.uk/hmrc/scripts/signup.asp
TIP: Set a half day a side per month in your calendar to do the necessary paperwork. If you can manage, you may be able to combine it with the day when you are sorting your other invoices and updating your expenditure spread sheet. You will need to include this expense on the form anyway.

TIP: It might feel like too much for you to do and worry about. Why don’t you think about paying someone to do this for you? Perhaps you could be part of a group receiving direct payments and you could help each other by taking turns. Or you could use someone with computer skills to do this for you. Perhaps you have a skill or practical talent which you could offer in return. Also check with your local tax office, as they often do free courses for new employers. 

Community Services
There is a range of services, both large and small, available locally, that might be able to assist you with your needs. 
Perhaps you or the client could think about developing your own services? You may have particular skill or knowledge that you can share with others.
Think about Time Banking. This is where a group of people share their time helping each other.

Time Bank Example

Quote: Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. Henry Ford

In the same way, why not organise activities in a group? If you are all on direct payments, you could share your costs, making your money go a lot further. Perhaps, if planning a trip somewhere, travelling together will save money. Even with a book or knitting club, you could take turns to meet at each others’ homes. Try to find like- minded individuals to share the activities you like. If practical, you could share your carers and transport on the days that you meet, saving money again. The more people you know, the easier it will be for you to find the services you need. The most important thing to remember is that you are in control. It is up to you how you spend your money.